


Hearts Tethered to the Tightrope

by rosie__posie



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, M/M, bit smutty dialogue, slight angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-18 15:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21712600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosie__posie/pseuds/rosie__posie
Summary: Lio is a jaded fire breather who has worked with the circus since he was child and has a vendetta against its Ringmaster. Galo is an up and coming strongman that has looked up to both Kray AND Lio since he was a child.As these two meet and spend time together in the troupe, what exactly lies in store for their relationship?Also known as Cirque du So Gay :3
Relationships: Gueira/Meis (Promare), Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Hearts Tethered to the Tightrope

“La-a-dies AND Gentlemen! I’m so glad to see you here tonight… for you are about to witness the greatest show Foresight Circus HAS TO OFFER!”

The crowd created a cacophony of cheers as Ringleader Kray boasted through his introduction.

“To start us off, we have a great new act that you all will for the first time get to witness! Please put your hands together for the dual debuting act: Our Strongman of the Century, Galo Thymos and the Acrobatic Ace, Miss Aina Ardebit!"

Kray moved aside as the curtains were pulled away. A strong light silhouetted two figures. Two spotlights chimed in to reveal the figures to be of an incredibly built young man and a young woman with a slender but flexible physique. The man moved closer, hyping the crowd through his motions: waving his arms for the audience to shout and holler in excitement for his routine, even cupping one of his ears as it hungered for more and more of this incredible hype. It wasn’t until Aina whistled that Galo remembered he had to actually do  _ what the crowd came for _ .

In front of him was a stack of assorted heavy items, each of various sizes and shapes. To an average person in the crowd, the thought of carrying bowling balls, stacks of encyclopedias, a tractor tire AND a 400 pound weight bar, terrified them. But Galo was not an ordinary guy. The dude stuck his tongue along the top of his lip, took a deep inhale, then slowly lifted the stack of heavy objects upward.

Steadily, Galo managed to get the stack balanced on his right hand. Then he moved the gigantic weight onto his shoulder, keeping his head level as if there was no disequilibrium to experience. The crowd gaped in awe at such an impressive display, but then many quickly realized…  _ Aina had disappeared. _ As Galo started to show off his immense strength by moving the stack from shoulder to shoulder, a spotlight flashed from high above to a thin tightrope. Perched above it, was the acrobat herself.

She moved her arms in the 1st ballet position, then onto the second, until finally jumping off the wire completely. She gripped the rope once her hands met with it, swaying forward, then backward under it. Her body looped over the rope once, then twice, and then at the third loop she let go!

The audience saw her fly high up, the circus band beginning to drumroll as the girl kept her legs close to her chest, succeeding in one tuck flip. Then two. And on the third roll-

BAM! Her feet perched on top of the weighted bar that stood atop the pile of object Galo managed to carry on his own. The man didn’t even flinch when it happened, just giving a simple yawn. Aina raised her hands upward, the band performing a fanfare for the two which was then drowned out by the cheers of the audience.

Galo threw everything down in front of them, something that Aina did not expect, slightly losing her balance but managing to stay standing up top without anyone noticing. She gave a side glare to her partner, who was too oblivious-ly focused on the roar of the crowd to notice.

As the curtains closed, Aina dropped to the padded floor safely to catch up to Galo. “Warn me next time before you drop the weights! I nearly lost my balance!”

It was only when she told him of his mistake that Galo was aware and more apologetic. He rubbed the back of his head out of instinct. “Oh! Sorry about that...but did you see that crowd out there? They really loved us! I didn’t expect to see such a reaction so soon.”

The crowd was still cheering as they continued to leave, Aina finally hearing the sounds of positive reinforcement for the first time. Her heart fluttered away, she had to place a hand on her chest to keep it together. She spoke through her smile, “You’re right. It is such a lovely thing to hear.”

The noise began to die down as the Ringmaster was at the center once again, ready to introduce the next act. He clapped alongside the crowd, “Truly amazing sight to see, but there’s other acts that need the spotlight. This is one in particular, though...makes the spotlight themselves. Please give a fiery round of applause to our wonderful trio of firestarters, Mad Burnish!”

The crowd’s roars muttered loudly under the curtains, and Galo was just as equally excited. He rushed past Aina, hitting her square in the shoulder without thinking about it. She verbalized her frustration, but didn’t direct her anger at all toward Galo. She knew he didn’t mean it and besides, his favorite act was up.

Galo stood in the darkness outside of the ring, the dragged curtain hiding him from plain view. Kray was on the opposite side, waving a kind hand as his hello. Galo waved back, but then the sound of stage lights shutting off triggered him back into reality. It was time for Mad Burnish’s performance.

Three flames floated in the air brightly. Each of distinct colors: blue, red, pink. They stood small with short flickering movements and were contained in these antique looking cages that slowly moved upward to the ceiling. The sounds of wires being pulled just anticipated the crowd more and more for what they were about to see.

Three dark silhouettes were framed below these lights. Many knew and were excited to see their faces again. Galo was just as excited as he looked from the back to see at the center of the ring was the leader of the group. Galo’s influence to join the circus.

When the lights reached a certain distance from the ground, the sound of grating metal wire being pulled stopped. Time stopped. People were on the edge of their seat awaiting what would obviously come next. And then…

_ FWOOSH! _

The flames above them exploded into a colorful cavalcade of combustion. Each fire grew and vanished one by one, signaling a spotlight to turn on one-by-one, revealing Gueira, then Meis, and finally Lio. Each waved their arms above to crowd as the audience began to pick up again from the ‘explosive’ first impression.

Once the beginning of their act had completed, though, Lio signalled Gueira for the next part as they all moved to their positions and began the next phase. The spotlights moved along with them, originally circling around the ring, now being placed in a straight line split in the middle of said ring. As Meis and Lio just stood still awaiting their parts, Gueira revealed from the back of his form a little something he had hidden from the crowd. 

It was a medieval style sword. Beautifully hand-crafted and incredibly sharp. He presented to the crowd like an item up for bid, waving around its form and even pretending to have a fake fight with it. But then he slowly returned to standing normally, he waved the weapon upward, raised his chin to show his neck, then proceeded to place the whole thing down his throat.

Some gasps from the crowd savored in fear of the moment, but many didn’t even seem to care, knowing the next part was going to come and make this even more dangerous. When the hilt met his lip, Gueira stopped, turning to the audience and motioning his hands to cheer once more. The crowd agreed to this, gradually cheering at Gueira’s bizarre display, but as they did, he just as quickly removed the sword without injury. But the crowd then grew louder as when the sword entered their views again, the blade was now engulfed in a blue, blazing flame that roared just as intensely, in front of Gueira. 

He waved it around, presenting the ethereal weapon like a prize to be won. But as he finished playing with his newly burning toy, the man waved his arm back from behind his head, and threw the fiery sword above Lio’s head toward Meis’s waiting grasp. His counterpart grabbed it with ease, the hilt never appearing to burn their hands as they gripped what should’ve been at least an incredibly hot metal object. No, Meis held the sword, having no problems with heat, even going so far as to place his open hand above and across the blade. He didn’t flinch as he did this, staring blankly into the crowd with one open and honest eye. His hand went across the blade again, this time though he was touching it, the open flames engulfing his hand. 

There was no blood or burns upon his hand as he did this. And when he placed his hand from one end of the sword to the other, the flame managed to leave the edges of the sword, almost being carried like a solid object into Meis’s hand. When he lifted his hand away from the steel, the fire was gone from the medieval cutlass, and instead rested above Meis’s right hand.

The crowd’s interest grew even faster, as Meis began to play with the material like putty. He juggled it around, stretched it, twisted it, then split into three separate flames he juggled once more. Everyone whistled and clapped at such an interesting display, even Galo awed at the sight, but both knew the conclusion was on its way.

Lio stood with his back turned away from Meis, walking a couple of steps closer to Gueira. As Meis finished playing imaginatively with the fire, he returned it back into one ball, bouncing it up and down on his left hand. He then clasped his hands together, placed them away from him in a pitcher-like position, and much like a starting one in baseball, he threw a direct fastball toward Lio’s head.

Before the flames met the nape of Lio’s neck, he just as quickly turned around, his face now it contact with the flame, and he blew directly at it. In response, it moved back towards Meis, who took a step back to let the flames act in solitude and for his safety. The fire grew larger and larger, swallowing the darkness around the ring and its people. It displayed into a gorgeous, almost heart-shaped flame that lit brightly in front of all that witnessed it.

And just as quickly as the starting flames exploded, the flame Lio projected was just as quickly gone. The spotlights timed themselves with the loss of that flame, leaving the crowd back into complete darkness. The only sign that anyone was even there was from the adoring shouts and hollers that came after witnessing such a beautiful sight.

A few seconds of this continued. And then the spotlights came back, lighting the trio, now holding hands and bowing to their audience. Their smiles shined just as bright as the flames they created in their performance. Galo clapped behind them, cheering at the display as well. He turned his head back to where Kray was standing opposite from him.

Only to find that the Ringmaster was actually gone.

* * *

The trio opened the door to their dressing room. Gueira sat back on a rickety mattress with Meis right next to him, while Lio sat on a chair near his boudoir mirror. 

Gueira chimed in with happiness, “Another great performance, Boss! We should celebrate, do you think we can head to Kray’s office and steal from his liquor cabinet before he finds out?”

Lio gave a curt, “Maybe.” He was more focused on wiping off his makeup and fixing his bangs back to the front of his forehead.

Meis asked, “Are you okay, Boss? You seem a bit upset.”

Lio continued his rough removal of the greasepaint surrounding his eyes, his voice equally speaking with irritation. “I expect that Vulcan will be sending us a lower paycheck soon because according to Kray: ‘We aren’t getting much of a crowd anymore.’”

Gueira joined in on this annoyance, “Are you kidding?! After tonight, he should be giving us a raise! That was probably the best we’ve done so far all year. If he docks us, we’ll riot, right Meis?”

“Right.”

_ Knock-knock! _

Everyone turned to the door. Lio turned back to Gueira and Meis with a sarcastic smile. “Must be Vulcan, ready to pay us.”

He got up from his chair and walked toward the door, expecting a gigantic, tall man to hand him a small check and speak to him with such disrespect. But that was not what Lio got. There was a gigantic man in front of him, but he gave him an old brochure of the circus and appeared to speaking to him with complete adoration.

“Hi, Lio. My name is Galo, I’m one of the new performers and well… I’m a huge fan of yours. I’ve never had an opportunity to get your autograph before I joined, so I was wondering if you could sign this for me?”

There was a lot for Lio to take in. His annoyed look shifted to confusion, then back into a small smile as he grabs the brochure, looks back at Galo and says, “Nice to formally meet you, Galo. I’ll gladly sign this for you. Would you like to come in?”

Galo’s face lit brighter than a christmas tree for hearing such an offer. “Really?! Thank you!” Lio moved aside to let the musclehead enter. He looked back at the brochure, seeing his old self smiling back at him. He felt sickened by it.

The strongman absorbed his surroundings: the different posters of past performances in Promepolis over the years, the variety of costumes that hung together upon a metal rack, all the equipment the trio used for their act scattered upon the floor. To Galo, it was genuine and authentic to witness such a display. And the next thing he saw was Gueira and Meis sitting beside each other, looking at him with just as fascinating curiosity.

“Wow, Gueira and Meis! You two were amazing tonight! Like I always love when you ignite the flames Gueira while performing a sword-swallow.”

Meis jokes, “He does more than just swallow swords, y’know.”

Gueira slaps his hand across Meis’s arm, annoyed by Meis’s teasing. Meis just smiled back. Galo didn’t seem to understand, so he just continued his compliments.

“Oh yeah! And Meis, when you move the fire around like that, it’s just so amazing to look at! I especially get chills when you throw it off to Lio and he does his fire breathing techniques. It’s just so inspiring to watch!”

The two smiled at Galo, seeing his compliments like a kid impressed by their almost ‘magic-like’ abilities. Meis responded, “We appreciate the support, Galo.”

Gueira added, “Yeah, and we were just as impressed by you and Aina’s performance tonight. Lio couldn’t stop gawking at how much weight you were carrying over on just one shoulder. Boss must’ve liked you a lot; he was nearly salivat-”

The sound of hearing his name and the truth of hearing Gueira confess such an intimate moment to Galo caused Lio to turn to them and interrupt.

“Yeah, it was a great performance! Here’s your autograph, we’ll see you tomorrow!” Lio quickly gave Galo back his brochure and proceeded to shove him back out of the dressing room, with a quick door shut. Muffled screams of Lio demanding Gueira to never mention that again were heard from within the wooden gatekeeper. Galo took a couple seconds standing there, trying to process what just happened.

He blushed. Slowly turning to see the brochure he had held for a couple of years. Next to a younger Lio’s picture, was a signature. Cursive, rounded, lovely. With an added drawn picture of a flame that held a smiling face towards Galo. 

This brought him back to his own reality. He got the signature. It was time to head back to his dressing room.

* * *

Galo sat back in his dressing room chair, relaxed and ready to head to sleep. Before he could do anything, though, he felt an itch on his left arm. It was a phantom sensation as after he instinctively scratched the spot, he pulled the rubber prosthetic out of its socket and placed it delicately on the table.

He sighed. It had been years since he lost his arm. But the pain of losing such a part of you never really left Galo's side.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.
> 
> This chapter is kind of just an idea I had out of nowhere.
> 
> If you want to hear more, please let me know. <3


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